How to Avoid Getting Sick During Your Travels

Reading Time: 2minutes

You’ve spent months planning your dream trip and at last, you are finally in your destination. Your trip is going even better than you had anticipated, and you really are having the time of your life until…[cue vomiting noises here].

It’s time to face the facts: it is very common to get sick while travelling in another country. There are several types of illnesses one can contract for various reasons, the most common being travellers’ diarrhea. This type of illness may not sound as serious as other travel related illnesses such as malaria or typhoid, but in fact can be just as deadly. Traveller’s diarrhea is easier spread though person-to-person or by consuming contaminated food or water. The poorer the standard of hygiene and sanitation is in the places you’re eating, the more likely you are to contract this ugly illness.

So, how can you avoid traveller’s diarrhea?

There are several types of medication out there that you can take with you on your trip to both prevent and cure traveller’s diarrhea. On all of my travels, I bring antibiotics (which are prescribed by my doctor), Imodium (which you can get over the counter) and oral rehydration salts. There are also other over the counter drugs such as Travelan which you start taking 48 hours before and throughout your entire trip to help protect you against traveller’s diarrhea before it even starts. I have yet to try Travelan, but would love to hear if any of you have tried it.

There are also other ways to avoid travellers’ diarrhea and other illnesses during your travels. In the above video, I share my tips and advice on how to avoid getting sick so that you can enjoy each day of your travels to the fullest and skip the whole vomiting and diarrhea part.

Here are the key points I cover in the above video:

1. Avoid drinking tap water at all costs. Bring a water pump with you and filter your own water.

2. Avoid eating meat.

3. Don’t over do it with hand sanitizer. It’s okay to expose your body to a bit of germs. It builds your immune system.

4. Eat where the locals eat. They know which restaurants or food stand serve up the best of the best.

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4 Comments

Kayla

April 20, 2016 / 7:39 pm

Bring medication with you for any type of illness you get frequently (bladder infections, sinus infections, eye allergies, etc). I got a sinus infection in Amsterdam and it’s not easy trying to find the Dutch equivalent to the Canadian over the counter meds I took. Take god there were Canadians staying in my hostel who had some in their pack though! Travel buddies for life.

Kristen and Siya are an adventure seeking, world travelling, tiny home living couple behind the Hopscotch the Globe brand. They have one of the top travel channels on YouTube dedicated to travel and adventure. They showcase everything from travel tips and advice, destination guides, tiny house living, beauty and fashion, food adventures, bizarre travel, reviews and more!

Kristen and Siya don't just show how couples travel together but also promote solo adventure, travelling with your dog and soon family travel (as they are expected a little one later this year).